Rival or Lover ?
by Nekomiyu
Summary: Toudou Jinpachi wants to race his lifetime rival Makishima Yuusuke again. He wants to prove himself that he is faster than the other guy. Anyway, this is, what he tells himself. But this time the winner isn't him. What will happen now? School / Slice of Life / Sports / Romance / Drama / Boys Love / Rivality / Yowamushi Pedal / Toudou Jinpachi / Makishima Yuusuke /
1. Chapter 1

*coughs* Now I'm into Yowamushi Pedal and I wanted to write a story about those two rivals 'cause I just love this pairing. Hehe... ~ Makishima x Toudou, everybody. [Since I can not choose, who should be the seme =_=''] Anyway I don't think it's important for the story though.

I need to tell you before you start reading that English is my second language. I am sorry, if there are mistakes. But I will and want to improve. So you can just tell me, what I did wrong. But please, tell things that I can improve and not just bluntly "it's bad" because I can't do anything with this information.

I'll hope you like the story.

Nekomiyu

...

The pace. I need to raise the pace. Otherwise, otherwise I can't make it. My eyes slowly drift to the ground. Have I been always this weak?

Bicycle racing. The most enjoyable sport I've found for myself. You drive like crazy, while thinking that you have to come first. The wind. The nature changing around you. All of this. There aren't enough words to describe my love for it. But then… Why, why do I lose? Even if I love it so much?

My legs hurt like crazy, my eyes widen, as I look up again.

How can it be? How can it be, that I'm not fast enough? I've trained so hard. I've trained so long. Why? Why are you in front of me? Why aren't you next to me?

I give it all. Put the last strength I have and turn my pedals harder. Harder. Silent. Effective. My breath is the only thing I can hear. And my heart. It beats like crazy. Everything around myself stopped in this moment. There's just black. This eternal moment.

With the last bit of strength I have. I shout: "MAKI-CHAAAN!" as I race forward. "Jinpachi", I hear his answer on my shout.

To the guy, who moves his bike from left to right like crazy. Gravitation doesn't work for his dancing. Even if the bike has to fall, he catches it in the right moment and lets it fly to the other side. The peak spider. That's how they call him. Makishima Yuusuke. The guy with the bright green hair and really slim figure. He always smiles, while climbing. No, that can't be called a smile. It's a creepy grin. I have seen it so often on his lips. So often. But now I can't see it.

With my last struggle, I drive forward and close the gap. Still that isn't enough. Maki-chan crossed the finish line first. And not only this. He is also three seconds faster than me. That makes him clearly a winner.

As I look down, trying to manage my breath, I know that the guy next to me is rising his arms and smirking. I've lost.

"Maki-chaan", the voice of his rival Jinpachi Toudou made Makishima shudder. Why is he always so noisy?

"Yeah…What's up?", Maki lightly grinned, while holding his phone with his shoulder because he was changing into his training uniform as the other guy called. Now he closed the zipper and waited for the answer to come.

"I've recently thought…. That our last climb at the inter-high does not count.", now Makishima was really confused.

At the Inter-High both guys had promised each other that it'll be their last fight to settle the score. There was a score of 7-7 before the tournament and it was their last chance to find out, who is the winner. Because after the Inter-High they would end school. Makishima's plans were to go to college in England, but Toudou would stay in Japan and study here. Yeah, so at the tournament they fought and Toudou won.

Now Makishima wasn't really expecting that Toudou would call and say this. I mean, he was the winner, so why should he care?

"Hm, why?", Makishima started to put on his shoes, "Why do you think like that?"

"Because Maki-chan did have to climb in three minutes the road I've climbed in six. I mean, you've had to use more strength. It's only natural that I've won…", there was the voice… Makishima didn't liked the way Jinpachi was speaking right now.

"Ahh, why you're caring about such details? You won, right?!", Makishima sighed and looked at the clock. The training was going to start soon, so he would have to finish talking in a few minutes. But he also didn't wanted. Because he didn't knew about Toudou's state. He was slightly worried.

"No, it's not that!", his voice was unusual harsh, "But I wanted to raice against you! The whole course! Even if it did make me unbelievable happy that we could ride the last kilometer together. But… it's not…"

Makishima's eyes widened. What the hell? Did his voice broke down? The usual happy and annoying Toudou. He didn't found words to describe something? Was this a joke?

"Oi, Jinpachi, is everything alright?", Makishima was now really worried and furrowed his eyebrows, "Did something happen?"

"No, no", that was a failed try to change his voice into his normal one, "Everything's alright. Come to Hakone this Saturday at 12 p.m., 'kay?"

"Yeah, sure…", Makishima lightly nodded, "Is really everything fine?"

"Yes. Bye.", with this Toudou hung up.

Makishima stared at his phone. What was this? He couldn't believe it. What the hell did just happen? Toudou, whom he knew as freaking annoying and arrogant, who can't stop talking for a second? This, this damn Toudou, hung up first. Was this a joke? Really, was this?

He almost threw his phone against the wall because of the anger he was feeling. WHAT DID JUST HAPPEN?! He tried to convince himself that everything was alright. That Toudou didn't meant it. That Toudou was having a bad mood. That somebody just exchanged his rival with a selfish cold alien. Anyway, he couldn't just destroy his phone.

And he had to go to training. He couldn't let his private life take influence on his training. That would just be too bothersome. Also, the exams were coming up.

Maki sighed. He put his phone in his pocket and stood up. Then he walked out of the changing room. He would come. Anyway, that wasn't the time to think about the 'Sleeping Beauty'.


	2. Chapter 2

"I've lost", this is only a slight mutter. He knows Makishima looked at him with that strange look of his. He knows that he worries. But…

"I've lost", he raised his head and tried a smile. It's his win. He'll be the "God of the Mountains". That's okay.

"Jinpachi…", Makishima muttered and he saw how the other guy clenched his teeth. His eyes were wider than before, he was surprised.

_'__I wanted to see your face…' _

That thought flashes in my head. His face? As if. This would be too crazy anyway. He didn't get better. He wasn't powerful enough to stay at his side. He lost.

"Congrats to your win, new god of the mountains", Jinpachi still tried to grin, even if his whole body was against it, "It was fair played. I've lost."

"Jinpachi", again. Why isn't he angry? Why isn't happy? WHY ISN'T HE SMILING?!

"You have to smile, you know?", I stared at him intensively, "Now, that you have won. You need to smile, idiot!"

He was always like that. He would never smile, when he wins. He made the other guys feel quite worse with this. They talked about that he could beat them so easily, even if he didn't wanted to win. They thought so. But Jinpachi knew, he knew, how badly Makishima wanted to win all this time. Like now, now… He wanted too, right?

"Jinpachi, why are you crying?", finally the words came.

His eyes widened. Crying? Was he really crying?

"Hahaha", he tried to laugh, "I'm not crying here! I would never cry! It's just sweat, just sweat…" Jinpachi cleaned the tears away. "Anyway, you shouldn't bother with a loser like me.", he grinned.

"Are you serious?", Maki was looking quite angry, "What's with you? Are you an idiot?"

"I am, I am", Jinpachi fought against this ache in his whole body, "You shouldn't bother, Maki-chan!"

"Really, I wonder about how stupid you are", Makishima's voice was getting louder, "Do you think I don't care about you just because I won against you? WHAT KIND OF A FOOL ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE OUT OF ME?!"

Jinpachi sighed. Maki was getting seriously angry here. That wasn't good. And the weather responded to it.

He could feel that the first drops were falling. So it started raining. The whole sky was dark grey and it was half an hour ago, when he had seen the sun for the last time. Rain. The drops became more and more and he could feel that his clothes were getting wet. Perfect weather for this perfect conversation.

As he looked at the other boy, he could see, that his curly green-red hair turned into dark green straight hair. But that didn't changed the look on his face. He waited for an answer.

"Maki-chan…", Jinpachi sighed again, "You know, you're over-reacting a bit…"

"Over-reacting?", he growled, "I AM OVER-REACTING?! Hell, you know, this whole sh*t you've been saying recently…" He tried to get back his control over himself. You could see, how he was telling himself to be calm.

Then he smiled.

Jinpachi shuddered. His whole body was saying him that he should just run away right now. That grin was one of the creepiest grins he ever saw. A new record. His hand trembled as he tried to change gears so that he could drive fast away, if this situation got too dangerous, while his eyes were just showing, how much frightened he was. Maki-chan. What the hell just happened with him?

"You know, Jinpachi.", he grinned widely. His eyes were cold and his whole face looked like one of the creepy masks you can buy in a Halloween Shop. "I don't know, if it's because you realized that you have no fangirls. Or that a girl broke up with you. Or whatever turned you into this. But don't think of me this low, you understand?"

"But, Maki-chan…", he tried to protest.

"Not "But's"", Maki growled. He brushed his wet hair out of his face. "I'm going home now. It's no fun racing, if you're like this. See ya."

With this Makishima started his fast dancing, now driving down the hill. Both of them knew that he shouldn't do it in this condition. His legs were as hurt as Jinpachi's and it would only make the pain worse. Also it was dangerous to ride down the hill with that speed.

Jinpachi knew all of that, but he just couldn't move. He felt like he was a marionette, whose wires were ripped. He couldn't shout anything or just ride after him. He couldn't even pedal. His legs weren't moving. They just weren't moving.

He stared at the ground.

Suddenly he felt so tired, as if he'd rode over 1000 kilometers. But he couldn't just sleep here. It was raining more. He felt that it was getting darker and darker every second. As if the weather was like him. His feelings. He could feel that the nature was feeling the same. The pain, anger and regret.

Why did he say that to Maki in the first place? He could have just be happy with his win and be grateful that he won. But no. No, he had to call Makishima, make him worried and then just act like a spoiled brat, who won't accept the loss. But was it the loss that made him like this? He wasn't sure.

He had lost to Makishima very often. But he never felt like this. Not like this. He felt maybe a slight pain. But that was in the tournaments. There only the winner got everything. It was normal to feel pain after a loss. But this time. It wasn't a tournament, so there weren't any prices to win. Of course, he had lost his title. But this kind of thing hadn't mattered to him from the start. And anyway, nobody knew about this, so he could pretend as if it never happened. But he wouldn't. Of course he wouldn't. He would go around and tell everybody.

'My only lifetime rival Makishima Yuusuke has now won the title. He is really amazing and the best rival I can have. Without him I never would have come this far…' and so on.

Jinpachi clenched the handlebar of his bicycle. That didn't felt like usual. Thinking about Maki-chan. It hurt. That made him angry.

"What the hell is with me?", he muttered, now trying to manage his feelings by riding as fast as he could. His whole body hurt. He was feeling that he was about to start crying again. How come that he hadn't any control over his body in a situation like this? How come? He was a man, right? He was very MANLY. So he should act MANLY.

He saw that the landscape around him changing really quickly. But he wasn't really paying attention. Mechanical he glanced to his cyclometer – 100 km/h. He didn't even realized how dangerous it was. He was just pedaling harder. Harder. More. He wanted to scream so badly. He knew that he had almost no strength anymore.

When the last kilometer in front of the city came, he finally screamed with all his force. With all the stupid feelings that turned him into this idiot he was right now. "MAKI-CHAAAAN!" It did somehow not sound like a human scream anymore. More like an animal, who was in a tight corner. Who was using its last strength to scream the name of his enemy. His rival.


	3. Chapter 3

Makishima shuddered. What the…? What was this scream? Was this a monster? He felt how he clenched his fists. He was slightly starting to panic here. It was almost wholly dark and the atmosphere was somehow rough.

"Thunderstorm", Maki sighed. How come that both of them didn't looked up the forecast? He did call Toudou an idiot twice by now. Right now he was feeling that he should call himself one in the first place.

What had gotten into him that he rushed down the mountain like he was being chased by a monster? He almost slipped at the first turn having 80 km/h speed. If he'd fall, he could break something or hurt himself otherwise. But even this experience didn't make him stop. He had still rushed forward moving his bike fast from left to ride, almost letting it fall on the ground.

Like a real spider, huh? Maki grinned. At this moment he wasn't driving but walking and pushing his bicycle because the weather got totally worse and with his hair like this, he couldn't actually see very much. Almost every minute he had to brush his hair out of his face and a second later it was back there, where it were before. That was pretty annoying for him.

So, when he was walking like this and thinking various stuff, he heard that shout and located it about 2 kilometers behind him. At first he really thought that it was a monster or a wild creature, which haunted the forest. This didn't make him feel very well obviously. But after he started walking faster and thinking about that incident, he did ask himself, if it could be that a human being shouted this. Maybe he or she was in danger?

Maki thought about turning back. Maybe this was something like "Help me!" But then, could he really help? He stood there for a few moments, while thinking.

'Maki-chan'…

"Maki-chan?", he muttered. Could it be…? He was sure. Now, that he had heard this word in his head, he knew for sure that it was the word the person shouted. But his voice…

Maki clenched his teeth. Was that because of him? He was feeling quite guilty, but also he knew that he couldn't just turn back and walk to Toudou. Lay a hand on his shoulder and say: 'We're rivals for ever. Don't you dare to think that I will exchange you!'

Maki sighed. As if he could say something such embarrassing. He wasn't good with people. Mostly because he couldn't make a small talk. His face also got very creepy, when he was feeling nervous, so the people around him would be frightened and step back. Also he sounded like he was bored, even if it was interesting for him. Like this… like this he couldn't encourage anyone. He wasn't straight-forward, he couldn't say this. He wasn't like Toudou. Toudou would always say things, which were on his mind. He didn't cared about people thinking that he was annoying or strange. In fact, he didn't even thought about people thinking this. You could say that this was arrogance, but Maki called this "being naïve or innocent". Anyway…

Maki slowly walked down the streets of the city. Most of the people were hiding inside buildings like shops or cafes. Maki was almost the only person walking outside. He was going to the train station to take the train back home. In the train he would call his butler to say that he had to fetch him and take back home.

"Jinpachi, I'm sorry…", he quietly muttered. He couldn't call himself a good friend. That was just selfish acting here.

He stepped into the train station and bought himself a ticket back home. Then, as planned, he called his butler and gave him the instruction to fetch him at the station. Maki looked out of the window. It was still raining. But the thunderstorm was going to happen just in an hour or so because Hakone was a few kilometers away from his home. He would be at his place by then.

This whole day kind of sucked. He didn't liked the situation with Toudou and was still feeling guilty and angry. How should he talk to him after this? Should he call first? He had no idea. As if it would be like nothing happened. He knew, if Toudou would act like that, that it would make him quite angrier than if he would completely ignore him. He wouldn't control himself and end up saying this whole stuff, which make Toudou sad. Maki hated this. He hated himself for making Jinpachi sad. He hated Jinpachi for doing this whole stupid race and act like a freaking moron. And he hated this weather.

Mechanically he clenched his teeth and growled quietly. Why the hell was he getting this furious about this whole situation? His own reactions were more annoying for him than this day was. He was acting like a brat. Like he was a first year, who couldn't control himself. How was he going to study, if just one guy like Toudou could make him act like that? Would he throw books at his professor, if he would tell him that his grades were good, but he would not let him pass because he felt, that he "was quite an unpleasant fellow"? Would he fight against his comrades just because somebody would say that he _looked gay_ with his long hair? He had to get more control over his feelings.

The train stopped and he went out. First thing he saw, was the huge black van parked in front of the station. He nodded and then walked to it, put his bicycle in there and opened the door. He sat down next to his butler and brushed his hair out of the face. Finally it stayed there. "Hello", he looked at him as the other guy started the car, "How was your day?" "You're not really want to know that, master…", the butler smiled lightly. He and his family were hired for the Makishima since generations, so he knew pretty much about all of the family members and their character. "I want to distract myself", Makishima admitted. Everything but not thinking about Toudou.

"I understand.", the butler didn't even asked about his reasons, but started to talk friendly about his day, while driving. Makishima didn't listened to the sense of the words, but to the melody of them. It was calming him down. The friendly talk of the man, which filled the silence around himself. He was feeling grateful. The silence would be the worst. Then he would start _thinking._


	4. Chapter 4

"Maki-chan", Toudou whimpered, "Maki-chan…" He sat down next to his bed.

He didn't even know, how he got home. He was simply riding as fast as he could until he didn't almost crash into his garage. Then he mechanically put his bicycle into it and cleaned it with a towel, so that it wouldn't get rusty. He hadn't enough money for another bike like this one. After that he just got into his room and let himself fall down next to his bed.

He didn't even noticed all of that. He just thought about how Maki looked at him before.

"Maki, Maki I'm so sorry", he sobbed, "Maki don't, don't ignore me. Please…" He was saying the things he had in mind, like always. It was part of his character that he was always telling his feelings. Right now he just wanted Makishima to be like always. But even… if it was his wish. Even if he was really straight-forward. He couldn't force himself to dial the number. He could just lie there and hide his face in the blanket.

"Maki-chan…", he muttered, "Why…what's even happening with me?"

He remembered the old days, when he and Makishima would race together. If he won, then Maki would win the next one. If Maki won, then he would win. Anyway, even if they weren't racing, they always phoned with each other. Maybe not every day, but a few times a week. They didn't cared about the future. He knew that Maki would go to England someday, but graduation seemed always so far away. And now? Now it seemed so near.

Maybe he should just call him. Then, would everything be like before? He could say that he wasn't feeling well. And joke about that. And then Maki would be okay, right? He would believe, right? Yeah, of course he would. Of course.

Toudou looked around. He felt that his cheeks were wet. Crying? Really now. Toudou furrowed his eyebrows. He hated himself for being so weak.

After a long search, he finally held the phone in his hand, which was shaking in the moment. "Sh*t…I can't…", he muttered and let it fall down on the ground. He just couldn't call him. This was the first time for him that he couldn't call him. Anyway, this whole mood was a first.

Toudou finally stood up. His whole body was shaking because he hadn't even dried his hair or changed the clothes after coming back home. "Cold…", he muttered. He couldn't let himself get ill just because his friend was being mean.

_'__Was he?'_

"Shake off this thoughts, Jinpachi", he growled quietly and walked to the bath. Maybe the water would help? He turned on the tap and waited 'till in his bath was enough water. Slowly taking his clothes off, he thought about how troublesome it would be to get to school tomorrow. He know about his face showing all feelings he was having at the moment. He would look like someone died or something alike. Or like a ghost. Anyway, he couldn't hide any emotions.

So… Maki-chan wouldn't call today too. He knew his rival very well, so he could predict some actions. Maki felt hurt too, so he wouldn't call today. They both wouldn't because of the same reason.

As he got into his bath, he sighed in relief. Water had and would have always the same effect on him: He was feeling calmer. Toudou closed his eyes. What a day…

So at the next morning, or exactly, midday Toudou asked himself, if he could work as predictor.

"Hey, Toudou-senpai, is everything alright?", the first years asked him at once after he came to the training. "Yeah, everything's well…", Toudou tried to smile.

He had red eyes from crying so often yesterday. Also he didn't get any sleep because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Makishima's smile in front of him. _Why have I such a creepy rival? _

"You shouldn't come to training, if you're feeling not well.", the ace and captain Fukutomi stated, appearing right behind him. Toudou almost got a jump scare. "Ah, yeah, yeah, then I shouldn't come anymore…", he tried to joke, but still looked too serious, while saying this. So there was a kind of truth in this statement. "Ne, but if you're driving not fast enough…", Arakita said now. "There's not any tournament anymore", answered Toudou coldly. This guys were getting on his nerves. Today wasn't the best day to talk about races or bikes or about this whole sport. Everything was making him think about Makishima.

_"__What kind of a fool are you trying to make out of me?"_

Toudou shuddered and looked at the ground. "I'm going to train…", he simply turned around and head for his bicycle. After sitting down, he pedaled as fast as he could, so that in a few seconds it looked like he never was at that place. With his quiet driving style you could neither see nor hear him.

"What the hell did happen with Toudou?", Fukutomi asked himself aloud. "I don't know… Maybe something 'bout his fangirls?", Shinkai appeared in the doorway. "As if. This guy always brags around how they love him", Arakita rolled his eyes, "Firstly there would be the apocalypses before this guy would realize he isn't beloved." "Arakita's right", Izumida walked out of the training room, "Anyway what's about Toudou?" "He is behaving really strange.", a first year explained to him, "He isn't smiling, nor cheerful. He looks like he didn't slept for a week. And he did not want to train with the others." "What the…?", Izumida was surprised, "This guy, who likes to train others just to hear compliments that he's amazing… he doesn't want to? Are you sure?" "So the apocalypses is near…", Fukutomi muttered.

All of the boys were quietly thinking about Toudou and his unusual acting as a girl ran to them. "U-uh Fukutomi-senpai?", she asked. "Yeah?", the boy looked at her, "What do you need?" "Uh, have you seen Toudou-san?", she asked and blushed hardly. "Eh, why?", Arakita barged in, "What did he do?" "H-he said that we could talk…uhm…", she looked away, "Is he here?...I just wondered, if something happened. Because he didn't c-came…" "He drove away… He's training right now", Fukutomi explained, "Should we tell him something, when he comes back?" "Ah, no…No thank you", the girl looked depressed, "Sorry. I have to go…" She turned around and muttered before going away: "So, that's the answer, huh?"

Now all of the guys were looking like the apocalypses would come soon. "He didn't reject her properly…This will affect his popularity…", Izumida finally muttered. All guys stared at him just like they hadn't realized this before he said it. "Eh, maybe he's ill?", Arakita scratched his neck. "Doesn't looks like it", Fukutomi looked puzzled, "Anyway we should look after him. No one knows, what stupid things this guy will do now." "Yes, captain!", the whole group shouted.

"I'll go after him!", there was a new voice and the whole group turned around. There was Manami sitting on his bike and looking quite puzzled: "I'm a climber like him, so I can follow more easily. He's training to climb, I'm sure." "Okay, Mamami, go", the captain didn't even criticize him this time, "But be sure to find him." "Yeah, see you later!", Manami raced away without saying anything else.


	5. Chapter 5

Makishima looked at the clock. It was 6 a.m. He yawned and stood up. And fell down on the floor.

_My legs._

He somehow managed to stand up again, mostly because he hold desperate onto his bed. He smiled one of his creepiest smiles like he did, when he was very angry.

"So", he muttered, "Now I can't even _ride_." He was pretty pissed. First this whole stupid talk with Toudou and now he even couldn't do his favorite sport. _Isn't life cruel?_

Like so many times before he asked himself, why Toudou did say so many useless things. First there was this race. Why was there a race anyway? I mean, Toudou won the race at the tournament, so he should just be happy and don't care. Did he feel that this win wasn't a win because of Maki's condition? Maki had maybe less strength than he. But since when did Toudou care about such details?

Maki sighed at kind of went (if you could call this going) to the bathroom, where he comb his hair and brushed his teeth.

And then? Toudou lost, and lost really badly. Since their first race they hadn't such a clearly loss. They always were next to each other, seeing their faces. But that time Toudou couldn't see his face. Just because he was beside him. It was like he didn't even improved. Of course, Maki understood that, the boy wouldn't be very enthusiastic about this loss. But still?

Makishima managed somehow to appear in the kitchen and signalize the butler that he had to drive him to school. No questions were asked. Makishima ate his breakfast and went, now with the help of his butler, into the car.

The dialog after he had won. Toudou just wasn't himself. There were tears flowing down his cheeks and his voice was shaking. Also why would he think that Makishima wouldn't like him as his rival after he had won? I mean it was just this particular time. Maybe he had some kind of an illness or wasn't feeling well. Maybe it wasn't his day. But anyway… Why should Maki stop seeing him as his only rival? Even, if he would win. Even, if he would lose. It doesn't mattered. Without Toudou racing was fun, yeah. But with Toudou it was something special. He didn't cared for losing or winning this much. Of course, he was happy to win. But the whole race, this feeling he had while racing just that was, what he was longing for. Why couldn't Toudou understand?

_"__Anyway, you shouldn't bother with a loser like me."_

"Jinpachi, you big idiot", Maki muttered. "Did you say something?", the butler asked while driving. "No, nothing in particular", Makishima sighed and closed his eyes. What a bad day!

So Maki's school day wasn't all shiny and beautiful too. First of all he didn't slept very much as well, so he could fight against his fatigue in every lesson he had. Also in his favorite lesson – English, he couldn't concentrate. So when the teacher asked him to talk about his favorite animals, he said "bicycles" as an answer. The whole class was dying because of laughing. You couldn't imagine, how embarrassed Makishima felt. Also there were some comments like "he read too much in his gravure magazines last night" and "no, no, way to go. He watched porn. 10/10".

It's not that he was embarrassed because of his likes. He liked the gravure magazines and spoke freely about it (even if you could misunderstand this like). But he'd never watch porn. He wasn't into this stuff.

Makishima scratched his head. He had known, how it would end, if he went to school. And he went. So it was just all predicted.

What was really not predicted, was the reaction of his bicycle racing team.

"Makishima, what did you do last night?", the ace Kinjou asked, "You look like you didn't slept at all" "Nothing in particular", Makishima waved aside, "Do I look this bad?" He smirked. "Ne, but really, Makishima. That isn't like you!", Todokoro wanted to know too. "Guys, everything is alright.", Maki tried to force his way into the locker room. "Makishima-senpai!", he heard another voice appearing, "You couldn't sleep?" The boy shuddered. "Onoda, you shouldn't bother.", Maki grinned, "You all shouldn't." "He is right.", the voice of Imaizumi appeared out of nowhere. "Did you guys have nothing to do, but asking me questions?", Makishima sighed, "I'm not really in the mood today." But all the guys didn't actually listen to his last comment, but staring at Imaizumi in disbelieve: "Oi, Imaizumi, he looks like he could die every moment and you say don't bother!?"

"Don't you see that thinking about it will make it worse for him!", Imaizumi was getting slightly annoyed, "Imagine one of you guys were in his situation! He isn't ill or just nervous before a tournament. He is worrying about something that much that he can't sleep! Do you think he choose to worry about it and don't act?! You know Makishima-senpai better than I know him. But I think we all agree that he isn't the kind of guy, who likes to suffer!" Makishima was thinking about giving this guy some kind of a medal. He couldn't describe his feelings better. _Thanks, Imaizumi. I'll remember!_

The whole group got finally quiet and stared at him. "A-am I some kind of a celebrity?", Maki wasn't feeling very well with this gloomy faces around him.

"Hey, did I miss something?!", there was this annoying voice from the first year Naruko and Makishima waited for the next reaction to come.

"OH GAWD, YOU LOOK LIKE THIS HORROR-THING!", Naruko screamed and pointed with his finger at him, "WHAT WAS HER NAME AGAIN?!" "Shut up.", Imaizumi hit his head. "Ah, there's some kind of similarity", Aoyagi shuddered and looked away. "You didn't watch it yesterday? I said you shouldn't!", Teshima sighed. "You're cruel…", Maki muttered. That was Onoda's moment to act: "B-but I really think that you're still cool, Makishima-senpai!" "I am?", Maki looked away. "Of course!", Onoda seemed really sure.

Onoda wasn't the first person to talk about this. There was another person going all crazy about how great he was. This person would go around and tell everyone about him. Nobody believed his talking anyway. But still…

Makishima lightly smiled.

He needed a few moments to realize that everybody was staring at him. Shocked faces. "Y-you smiled…", Todokoro muttered. "Wasn't this an illusion?", Kinjou asked. "I saw this myself…", Imaizumi stated. "This smile was so cool", Onoda seemed amazed.

"I came to apologize….", a new voice appeared.

Everyone turned around to see the new actor of this scene. He wasn't in the best condition though. His eyes were read and his black circles under the eyes huge. His hairband wasn't holding his hair back anymore and his hair was falling down on his face. The clothes were sweaty and so sweaty that they seemed wet. Also his legs were injured at some places. His bike wasn't looking very healthy too. His eyes were directly meeting Makishima's.

"Tsk", Maki seemed to have a dark aura now. In fact, he almost had fire around himself. With shaking hands (anger, of course) he dialed a number and waited until a voice asked him, what he wanted.

"Sebastian, come to my school and take a bike with you (he described Toudou's bike). This you'll give Kanzaki-san and pay for his help. Say that this is a bike from Hakone, so that they'll accept the money. Thanks. I'll get going now. Bye."

Makishima put his phone away and walked to Toudou. Finally the members (and Toudou) saw the situation with his legs. "Makishima…", Todokoro muttered and clenched his teeth. "Did he race?", Imaizumi asked himself. "Just how much times did he pass his limit.", the ace asked. "I'll go first. Sorry, but can't train anyway. Have fun, guys", Makishima shouted to them. Then he looked at Toudou.

"Put your bike here.", he showed to a place. "Maki-chan", Toudou seemed far more shocked than his teammates were, "Why did you do this, Maki-chan?" While he asked, he put the bike, where he was told to. After that he waited for an answer, but didn't get one. Makishima was still angry, you could read it on his face. He walked quietly out of the gate. Toudou followed.


	6. Chapter 6

Toudou's first idea was just to train. But then he saw Manami's bike appearing beside him. And his plans changed.

You could call this recklessly driving, but Toudou just wanted to get away from Manami. He had the plan to drive to Sohoku. Manami wouldn't follow him after he'd lose track. And nobody of his team knew about his friendship with Maki. They thought that this were some kind of jokes or that they would meet only on tournaments and don't phone each other. Anyway, nobody knew.

So he raced quickly to his goal. He didn't mind the objects in his way, so it ended with getting this injuries. Also his bike wasn't in the best state. And because he wasn't taking almost any breaks, he was drenched in sweat. This explained his appearance. But luckily Manami couldn't follow his Senpai. And watch this embarrassing situation here.

"Are you a kid?", Maki growled as they were so far away that nobody would hear him raging, "Are you an idiot?!" "I wanted to apologize….", Toudou looked away. _And to see you. Mostly to see you._

Makishima growled: "Seriously, Jinpachi. What the hell did you do with yourself?!" "Sorry…", Toudou muttered and looked away. He was angry. But why was he always this mean?

"I wondered, how we would meet the next time. But I've never dreamt about THIS!", Makishima wasn't going to finish soon, "And what's this "Apologize"! I know you're not this girly to come here just because of this. Anyway…" "I'm sorry!", Toudou hissed. He was slowly getting angry too, "You're reckless, too…". Maki did always say this whole bunch of mean things.

"HAH? AND WHO RACED HERE SO THAT HIS BIKE WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED?!", Maki shouted. "AND WHO DID PEDAL SO LONG UNTIL HIS LEGS WERE LIKE THIS!?", Toudou shouted back. "ARE YOU MY MOTHER?!" "NEITHER ARE YOU MINE!" "BUT IF YOU DO THIS RECLESS THINGS, I HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE!" "SO DO YOU!" "I DO NOT SAY OTHERS THAT THEY ARE FREAKING RETARDS!" "NEITHER DO I!" "OH YES! WHO DID TELL THIS WHOLE SH*T ABOUT BEING USELESS FOR ME?!"

Toudou and Makishima were just staying on the street and arguing loudly.

"BUT I AM!"

Toudou got silent and pale. He didn't intend to say this. He didn't wanted. He stared away. He wasn't going to let his true feelings come out, was he? No, not more than this. He wasn't going to say more than this.

Suddenly he felt a hit on his head and realized sharp pain. He hold his head and muttered some curses. "What the hell was this for…?", he looked up to see Maki's face.

Anger. Pain. Toudou stared at him. Why would he feel this?

"As if.", Maki was not even muttering, just his lips were lightly moving. Then Toudou got another hit and Maki turned around, so Toudou faced his back again.

"Let's go. You'll stay over at my place.", Maki walked without waiting for an answer.

"Eh…ehhhhh?", Toudou stared at the other guy and his eyes widened. Maki…he was accepting his apologize. Really?

Toudou just smiled like an idiot and ran after his rival just to start a stupid conversation like always. He loved it to talk with Maki. Now he was this happy too.

"Maki-chan, Maki-chan, you'll stay my rival forever, yeah, yeah, yeah?!", he grinned brightly, not stopping with the "Yeah's", so that the other couldn't answer even if he wanted. And then he saw Makishima smirking as always. Everything was okay, yes?

"Yeah, yeah", Makishima nodded, "Do I remember it wrong, or are you usually quieter?" "HAAAHH?", Toudou pouted, "Are you telling me that I'm talking too much?! You're so mean!" "I see…", Maki's grin got wider, "So you're normal again. That's good."

"What do you mean by "normal"?! I just lacked of sleep, just this!" "Yeah, yeah, sure!" "Why do I get a feeling that you don't believe me, Maki-chan!" "I do believe, of course I do", Maki's voice was sounding ironical. "You're so mean! Maki's so mean!", Toudou poked against Maki's chest. "Do you expect me to be nice?"

Toudou felt that he wasn't the only one, who was normal right now.

As he came to Maki's school, he did see some parts of the talk. Maki looked really bad. He hadn't slept like him, even if he didn't cried. He had some kind of a miserable aura. And he was looking so serious. Also it was rare for him to smile normally. Ah, no. He couldn't smile normally. But somehow he did it that time. Toudou was sure that Maki did smile. But somehow, even if this was a smile, it looked way creepier that this whole usual smiles Maki would smile. It looked good, maybe if you didn't knew Makishima. But this smile. It looked like he would start crying. Or that he was crying inside.

Makishima was always hiding his feelings, so his reactions on the outside were quite not the same as of a normal person. If Maki was happy, he wouldn't smile widely, he would show a slight smile. If Makishima was enjoying himself, he would smirk. If he was angry, he would shout. Anger was the only reaction he was fully showing so far. Then there was sadness. Makishima wouldn't ever cry in front of people. He wouldn't let them know. When he did that creepy smile, he was almost on the edge of crying. But this smile way worse. It was despair in it. It was a smile of having no hope.

"Oi, Jinpachi, didn't you listen?!", Toudou felt a hit on his head. "OWW!", he loudly cried out and tears came in his eyes, "SORRY ! SORRY!" "What did you think about?", Maki asked him forgetting his anger from before. "That you shouldn't smile. Smiles doesn't suit you, Maki-chan!", Toudou grinned and got a second hit. "HEY WHAT'S THAT FOR?!", he cried out. "Are you saying that my face looks this stupid that I can't even smile?!", Maki growled. "No, no!", Maki waved with his hands, "Not like this. Just…" Then he looked away: "Doesn't matter."

"Haah?!", Maki looked at him, "You're usually saying everything you think, so say it!" "Not this time", Toudou smiled, "Later somehow" "Somehow?", Maki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, later" "When?" "In ten years" "THAT'S WAY TOO LATE!" "Is it?" "Do you think I'll remember it?" "Yes, if you want to know." "Jinpachi…" "Yeah?" "Don't make me angry…"

There were some hits and some cries. Still Toudou felt very good. _It's so funny. Being with Maki-chan is so funny. _

"Will you tell me now? Your last chance!", Maki asked. Toudou sighed. "Well, okay. But as a repay for letting me stay and repairing my bike. I'll give you the money for the last one though.", he said. "They're not going to take any I suppose.", Maki answered, "But anyway, tell me. We're almost at my place!" "Your smile was really sad you know. I don't want to see it ever again, Maki-chan", Toudou just stated and smiled.

Before Maki could answer, they stood in front of a huge villa with the name "Makishima" on the front gate.


	7. Chapter 7

"OH MY GOD, MAKI-CHAN!", was the first thing Toudou shouted, "ARE YOU RICH?" Sometimes Maki wondered, if the boy ever listened to his words or watched him sometimes.

"I've told you as I was younger I would get lost in our garden", Makishima sighed and opened the gate with his key, "And that I hated it, when my parents said my butler to take me in a limousine to school because the children were frightened of me…" Toudou was looking like his brain was going to explode, he tried to remember it.

"…Yeah, you aren't listening anyway.", Maki just walked in. "I AM!", Toudou shouted and run after him, "I ALWAYS AM! YOU DIDN'T TOLD ME!" "I have…", Maki walked in the direction of the front door, "You were like: 'Oh, Maki-chan! It is really not nice. But did you know that this girl said today that I look famous in my clothes. I thought she didn't meant it, but there was her friend…'"

Toudou blushed and looked like a tomato, his hand was trembling, when he was trying to press it on Maki's mouth to shut him up. He was imitating his voice very good. And it was too embarrassing for the brown haired boy to be remembered about his weak sides like that.

Maki knew and Maki liked to troll him. He looked in surprised at Toudou and smirked lightly: "Just tellin' the truth, you know?" "Maki-chan…", the other boy growled, "Stop mocking me already!" "I won't", Maki opened now the front door, "After all I like it too much."

"…", Toudou didn't say anything. It was rare that Maki talked about his likes to the boy, so it meant that his mood was quite good. That he was really happy right now.

The talk was stopped for a while, until Toudou's stomach growled and the boy remarked, while slightly blushing that he was hungry. "Oh, yeah I forgot.", Maki scratched his head, "You drove with your bike for hours. Of course you need food." He went out of the room to tell his cook to make them a meal.

There were three persons to which he didn't say his usual sentence 'If you touch something, you'll be executed.', when he was walking outside of his room. There was Kinjou, who wouldn't touch anything anyway. There was Tadokorocchi, who would touch everything anyway. And there was Toudou about whom Maki didn't cared, if he would touch something. Trust was it called, I suppose.

So Maki was wondering, why it was so quiet, when he came back. Normally Toudou would be loud and he could be loud in almost any situation. So this was strange. Slowly Makishima opened the door, looked into the room.

And shouted angrily: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Toudou sat on the floor, looking quite desperate. Around him were gravure magazines. They lied in the shelf next to Maki's bed before. It seemed that he wanted to take one out and it ended with them all falling out.

"Jinpachi…", Maki quietly growled. Toudou whimpered and looked at him very frightened, then he blushed hardly. This sound he had made, was he always making it, when he was surprised? It was quite girlish. Also his voice was higher than usual. Makishima couldn't manage to not start giggling about this, while Toudou was getting more and more embarrassed. He could really use that one.

While laughing, Maki forgot to be angry, so after he stopped, he couldn't get angry anymore. Without further comments, he helped him to put everything back.

"Did you wanted to read one?", Maki asked then. "Yeah", Toudou nodded, "After all you're so into that stuff. I wanted to know, what's so special about it…" "Why don't you buy one yourself, if you want to know? It's not usual for you to come to my place and you never asked me to give one to you before.", Maki was quite confused. "It's not like I can go and buy one!", Toudou seemed shocked, "What Will the fangirls say!? They'll tell I'm a pervert!" "Like me", Maki furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, yeah, I bet everybody thinks that", Toudou nodded, "But I'm not really thinking this myself." "Why?", now Maki wanted to know. "First of all, if you would be one, you would have a girlfriend", Toudou stated. "Why are you so sure I haven't one?" "You'd tell me." "Really?" "Yeah, of course", he seemed sure.

"And why can't I have one-night stands or so?", Maki asked, thinking that this talk got really interesting somehow. "Because it's not like you", was the clear answer. "Hm… And reading this kind of things is like me?" "You're not bad.", Toudou sighed, "Stop saying this stuff, so I'll compliment you. It's not that I'd like you having a girlfriend, so don't think I'm this nice."

"Hm?", Maki looked at him, "Why you would be interested in this? It's my private sphere you know…" "Yeah, yeah, you're always keep saying this", Toudou grinned, "I'm not this dumb, you know? I saying, what I like though…" "Yeah, I know", Maki sat down on his bed, "Still, why would you care about my romantic relationships?" "'Cause I'd never like that you have one before me!", Toudou stared at him with a serious look, then got pale, after realizing that he had said too much.

"So, so", Maki commented, "Before you, huh?" A wide grin appeared on his face. The fabulous and famous Toudou Jinpachi never had a girlfriend, huh?

"You're always telling everybody that you're experienced. Are you lying?", Makishima looked at him in surprise, "Of course you wouldn't lie, would you?" He was enjoying this whole situation. Like always, when they were alone, Toudou was the only one to get embarrassed. Otherwise Maki wanted to run away and hide, when they were in public. Still, he knew that he could make Toudou go all embarrassed in public, too. But therefore he needed to be very mean. And saying things like "Toudou never had a girlfriend", while knowing that his "experience"-status was important for his rival. There's no way Maki would do such a thing.

But when they were alone – then Maki liked to tease his lifetime rival Jinpachi whole heartily.


	8. Chapter 8

"Maki-chan, Maki-chan, you're so mean!", Toudou sobbed. "It's not like you can erase this words out of my brain, Jinpachi", Makishima commented. "I'd like to", Toudou said sadly, "It's not one of the themes I like talking about." "I can understand why." "So mean" "But tell me the whole story, if you started…" "I didn't intend…" "Just tell me!" "No way" "What's about writing this to Arakita-san then?" "You don't have his number." "I'll ask Kinjou." "He doesn't have his number too." "But he can ask your ace." "…It's not like Fuku-chan will give it to you…" "He will." "Why are you so sure?" "He wants to impress Kinjou." "Are you telling me…?" "No, of course not!", Maki stared in shock at him, "You know, gay… It's not like I have such friends, you know…" "Maki…chan?", Toudou asked quietly. He saw that there was some kind of disgust in the eyes of the green-haired boy.

"Yeah, yeah, don't mind. So tell me, or I ask Kinjou!", he wanted to sound cheerful, but his eyes were somehow cold. "Maki-chan, did anything…", Toudou was feeling worried. "No", Maki harshly interrupt him, "We were talking about you, Jinpachi…"

"I tell you, if you tell me!", Toudou pouted. He was slightly hurt about Maki being so distant. He wanted to know about his past, too. Curiosity is not always right, but always persistent.

"Why do you want to know anyway?", Maki brushed his hair back, "It's not like it's important. Also you always don't listen to my life stories… You'd forget anyway." "Is it about your house?", Toudou stared at him, "But I'm sure you didn't tell me!" "I did", Maki looked at him too, "Why are you so persistent?" "I remember anything you told me!", Toudou's voice was slightly desperate, "There's no way I'd forget!" "Are you sure?", Maki wasn't going to believe.

"Yes, of course!", Toudou nodded, "You hate hairbands." "I've told you a thousand times." "Todokoro-san is called by you "Todokorocchi"" "I always call him like that" "Your favorite colors are green and red…" "Why would I have this hair, if not because of that?" "You're going to England after school…" "Oh, you remembered? This time I'm really surprised."

Irony. He didn't believed. Somehow Toudou wanted to prove him that he wasn't this careless. He would tell everything he know.

"You were laughed at, when you were younger because of your style", Toudou began to speak quickly as if it would bother him, "They told you that you look ugly and creepy, that you shouldn't drive like this. Also your Senpais told you. They wanted you to drive normally. And you tried, but failed because this was your style. Because of this style you're called "Peak Spider"…" Makishima slowly nodded.

"I like your style", Toudou nodded, "Anyway… You don't like people too. You don't think they're going to praise you. So you don't like being in public. Maybe it's because your style isn't normal. It is described as crazy. Maybe you had problems with your family too… And you didn't have many friends in primary I suppose." "Why do you think so?", Maki had leaned forward and was listening with interest. Toudou was quite sure that Makishima didn't thought about him to know this.

"Because you never talk about this…", Toudou sighed.

"It's all nice…", Makishima stretched, "But there's not a single thing in this whole information that I'd told you." Toudou stared at him in surprise: "You didn't?"

"No, I did not", Maki smirked, "I also didn't tell you about me being rich. Wanted to test you." "Maki-chan!", Toudou angrily looked at him, "What did you tell me then?!"

"Not much because you're the one, who is almost always talking", Maki commented. Toudou's eyes slowly widened. He didn't notice. This whole time. He didn't notice. Maki always never talked about himself. Now he remembered that almost everything about Makishima he found out by himself. He asked, he talked about him with his classmates, with his team. He would ask many people. And he would always watch him, while racing, while talking. Because like this he would start understanding. And he did start.

"Our food is ready by now", Makishima stood up and walked towards the door. Without thinking Toudou grabbed his arm: "Tell me!" "About what?", Makishima asked and looked at him, confused about his acting. "About yourself…", Toudou stared at him with a serious expression on his face, "You're right about me. So tell me." Makishima smirked: "After you tell me about your girl-problem, Jinpachi" and after that he went out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Makishima knew that he was demanding quite much. For Toudou to tell about this would be more painful than for Maki to tell about his childhood. Maki wasn't quite caring about his past, so it didn't hurt him much. While Toudou seemed to care much about his popularity, so I'd cost him more to speak about his weakness in this area. Makishima was sure Toudou wouldn't tell. So he was very surprised to see that the other boy looked down and sat on the floor after walking into Makishima's room after dinner. Makishima raised one eyebrow and sat down on the floor next to his bed. Outside it was getting darker and darker by now.

Toudou seemed nervous as he started to speak. Maki couldn't remember that this boy would be nervous any time they'd talked. "Girls are pretty", Toudou smiled lightly, "They have nice figures, nice eyes. You know that yourself. You're reading all those magazines." Makishima was looking at him with confusion. "Some of them have big breast too. I hear always boys talking about this. Also some girls are talking about their sizes with each other", Toudou sighed, "Even if I'm always telling everybody, how I'm into having a fandom with this whole cute girls staring at me and wanting me. I'd rather stop racing than dating one of them." "What?", Maki shouted in surprise. "Yeah, you heard right", Toudou grinned some more, "The sleeping beauty Toudou Jinpachi is not into looks or compliments in a girl. I want to have…" He stopped. "Can we stop talking about this", he looked away. "Of course", Maki answered. "Really?"

"Yeah, and I'm not telling anything either", Maki smirked, "If you don't get, what you're talking, then I tell you. I've asked for the reason. And you did tell me everything _but not _the reason." On Toudou's face you could read: 'Why is this guy so smart?' "I'm not", Maki grinned widely, "I'm just interested and listening actually."

"Okay, okay", Toudou waved with his hands, "I give up. I'm into romantic stuff. I'd like to be with the person I care for. This enough?" Maki's eyes widened. Toudou looked away. He was embarrassed and pouted. "You're satisfied?", he asked after a while. Maki couldn't find the right words: "I never knew… I mean I didn't thought…" "That I'm this kind of an idiot, right?", Toudou looked at him and grinned, "But I am. Not that girls would realize it, too. They're thinking I'm a perv like you"

"I am not…", Makishima sighed and gave up. It's not like he could win this. Maki would have never admitted that he wasn't having a relationship because of the same reasons. "But still with Maki-chan it's otherwise. I bet you have no girls to date after all!", Toudou wanted to change topics by starting teasing his rival.

"You know, I'm not that unpopular", Maki brushed back his hair. "You aren't?", Toudou said in disbelief. Maki was slight annoyed: "Of course girls confess to me." "They are?" Maki's annoyance was getting more and more. "Didn't you ever noticed that you aren't the only one, whose name is shouted by a bunch of females?" "No" That was some kind of a fast answer. And also Maki was knowing that Toudou was 100% sure about the truth of Maki's miserable popularity. Makishima sighed. He didn't wanted to go this far. But Toudou didn't leave another choice.

"Here you go.", he grabbed one large box and put it in front of Toudou. Makishima knew that Toudou's box had to be twice as large as his, but still his box wasn't this small too. While he was thinking, Toudou opened it and saw that there were nothing but letters in there. "What's this?", the boy asked, "Your letters? Like the ones you get from friends?" "No, love letters.", Maki brushed his hair back, "Girls are quite persistent. If they're too shy to confess, they will write you." Toudou's surprise was large. He got pale and grabbed one letter. You could read on his face that he had no clue, no idea that Maki could have been so popular with girls.

"Maki-chan", he muttered slowly as he was sure that Maki was quite as popular as him, "You… You have a girlfriend?" "No, I don't", Maki put the box back, "And I never had." "Ah…", Toudou sighed, "You know…" "What?" "You have as many as me…from the high school…", Toudou looked quite disappointed, "Am I this …?" "This what?", Maki hit his head, "You know, I'm this popular because reasons…"

"What reasons?" "Yeah, you know", Maki scratched his head, "They like me because I'm strange and somehow don't really go around shouting about how cool I am. Most boys are really sure that they get girls because of their looks or talent. And who aren't thinking like that, they are mostly right about themselves. Most of them doesn't look good or they are just losers. And I don't look as bad as them I suppose. Even if I think that most girls should fall for guys like you. If you wouldn't wear this hairband and brag around about being loved by everybody." "Are you telling me that you think I should be more popular than you?", Toudou asked. "Yeah, of course. You'd like to be. So why not? It's not that I like to be like that. And also this aren't just from high school but from middle-school too. So, that makes you the winner I suppose." "I hadn't any in middle school", Toudou shook his head, "So that's okay. Anyway, I think they like you because you're nice, Maki-chan. You're a good person!" He grinned wide.

"I'm not", Maki was slightly annoyed because of that compliment, "And first of all, why didn't you get any?" "They thought I was gay because of the hairband", Toudou put it off and started playing with it, "It's not like you're the first person, who hates them." "What the hell?", Maki stepped quickly to the other boy and sat down next to him, "That had to be awful for you." "Wasn't", Toudou grinned, "Like I've said: I don't want to be popular in the first place, so it's okay." He looked away: "It's your turn though. I told you enough for today."


	10. Chapter 10

Toudou saw, how Maki furrowed his eyebrows. But now wasn't the time to tell his rival about his middle-school. There he had been very cheerful and nice to the green-haired boy to get his trust. He didn't wanted that the other boy would worry about him. That he would see the past-Toudou with other eyes. Maybe he would tell him. But later.

"Yes, you're right", Makishima said and sat down next to his bed again. "Sou what do you want to know?" Toudou started thinking. Earlier Maki had been very harsh, when they started to talk about gay people. But then, this wasn't really a time to ask, was it? "I see.", Maki nodded, "You aren't sure. But I'll tell you, what I want then. Like you said I wasn't really popular with people. My whole life I've been laughed at because of my hair color, my style. Some people liked that, some of them not. Have to say that most of them were looking at my back in tournaments after laughing. So that's not really important. I've good grades. My favorite school lesson is English. I like climbing. Ehm…" Makishima seemed unsure, what to say. Toudou could see that his rival wasn't often talking about himself.

"Yeah, I was mistaken by a girl sometimes because of my hair and figure", his eyes got darker, "I've got my figure. That's not good for a dude to have such a figure, you know. That's it I suppose." "Like you were attacked by perverts?", Toudou's eyes got wider. "Not really. Sometimes yes. But they tried to grab my breasts.", Makishima couldn't stay serious and started laughing, "The look on their faces was priceless, Jinpachi." "You've must had it tough", Toudou didn't let the laugh confuse him and sat down next to Maki, "And all because of this hair, huh?" He grabbed bit of it and looked at it intensively. "But it has high quality.", he laughed then.

"Thanks, thanks", Makishima glanced at it, "Giving my best to produce high quality hair."

"I think we've both in the same boat", Toudou yawned, "You and I being mistook for girls… this or other way." "You're right", Maki looked at his phone, "But now we have to go sleeping. Do you want to have my bed or a matrass?" "You'd give me your bed?", Toudou was surprised. "I never let anyone stay, so I don't know", Maki wasn't really interested, "Anyway I want to sleep, so decide quickly!" "Matrass", Toudou answered. "Okaay, here we go. Now help me, idiot!"

After some hard working, Makishima and Toudou had put the matrass next to Maki's bed and everything was waiting now for them to sleep. But after saying "Good-night" and switching the lights off, Makishima did say one last thing, which made Toudou realize, why Maki wasn't letting guests stay over-night: "I don't really know, how to describe it. But I start moving in my sleep. And by moving, I mean I am kind of sleep-walking. This had my whole family. And the worst thing is: it did stop just after marriage or so."

Good, he could live with that. Toudou did not understand, why it would end after marriage, but he would some time later. He just nodded and said "Okay" after realizing that the green-haired couldn't possibly see the nod in the darkness.

So after a while both boys were breathing calmly and dreaming about happy times. Yeah, dreaming… dreaming until…

Toudou felt something warm next to him. In fact there was warmth next to his body, but just on one side. Dizzy and tired, he opened his eyes and slowly started thinking about, where this warmth could possibly come from. In fact, he felt something going up and down. And that there was a little bit of warmth on his back too, mostly around his hips. While thinking this, he got slowly less tired. After a while he fully realized, what this "warmth" was after all and almost let out a scream.

This thing next to him was his rival Makishima Yuusuke, sleeping in a most strange position – next to him and hugging him. He was calm too, as if it would be normal to do so. Toudou quietly hissed and started thinking, how to end this hell without waking Maki up and making the situation embarrassing for both of them.

He knew now, why Maki would never let people stay at his place. But he also knew that this side of Maki wasn't one that should be shown to everybody because it could really end worse for his rival. There would be people, who'd take advantage of this position. And there were also many pervs, who were gay, on this planet.

Toudou furrowed his eyebrows. He wouldn't let that happen anyway. So he finally understood his task. Slowly he put Maki's hands off his body and somehow managed to carry Makishima on the bed and put a blanket on him. If he'd known, he wouldn't have got back to sleep in this room, but he had never known a moon-walker before, so of course he couldn't know. He was thinking that this would end here and got back to sleep. He was sure that Maki would lie in his bed and didn't crawl in Toudou's. He was really sure about it. But he was wrong.

After Toudou closed his eyes and was in the state, where he wouldn't notice any strange warmth around him, Makishima Yuusuke sat down on his bed. The boy realized that the warmth of a person was coming from the matrass next to him and crawled under Toudou's blanket. He was still asleep, but somehow happy to find some friendly warmth around him. Again, he managed to put his arms around him.

So both boys were sleeping in the same position as before, while the night was coming to an end.


End file.
